Lens assemblies for mounting guiding and focusing cameras are known in the art, including both mechanical and electromechanical arrangements. Mechanically focused cameras are often adjusted by rotating a focus ring on an objective. This rotation is mechanically converted into a displacement of a focusing lens within the camera, adjusting the focal point thereof. Cameras may also employ electromechanical means to displace a lens for focusing, including auto focus. Such cameras may use a servomotor to drive the lens in response to an input, such as a switch.
Conventional lens assemblies often use a “barrel in a barrel” type lens assembly for mounting the lenses and adjusting focus. The barrel in barrel lens assembly provides a means for adjusting the distance between two separate lenses within the lens assembly while maintaining alignment of the lenses with respect to one another. Barrel in barrel lens assemblies generally include a first lens mounted to a first cylinder (a first barrel), while a second lens is mounted to second cylinder (a second barrel). The two cylinders are mounted coaxially, one cylinder nested within the other cylinder, thus maintaining coaxial alignment as the two cylinders are rotated relative to one another and their lenses are moved with respect to one another along their common axis.